Bloody Eyes
by strausse
Summary: Raven is captured and hurt badly after a fight with Hive. How will she cope? Chapter 12 is up. Please R
1. Chapter 1

Bloody Eyes

Chapter 1

Raven groaned in pain. Light stung her closed eyes through the lids, and every muscle screamed in pain. She tired to sit up, but strong hands pushed her gently to the bed. "Don't move, Rae, you were hurt pretty bad." Beastboy's voice sounded thick, as though he had been crying.

Raven slowly opened her eyes, turning away from the bright lights. Beastboy turned the dimmer down, allowing Raven some comfort. "What happened?"

"We fought the hive, do you remember any of it?"

Raven closed her eyes, struggling to recall oddly dim memories. "I remember the fight. It was hive, but more than just Jynx Gizmo and Mammoth though, there were others, lots of them."

"Yeah, it was a hard fight. Do you remember anything else?"

Raven fought to remember, but it seemed as though a black shroud covered everything. "No, I don't. What happened?"

"Let me go get Robin, I'll be right back."

Raven turned to watch Beastboy's small form almost run out of the room, like he was scared. Raven had to wonder now what had happened. She saw a tray near the bed that was reflective enough to confirm that she was not disfigured beyond cuts and bruises. She dropped the tray back to the table and checked the rest of her limb. She was bruised, cut, scraped, and had several broken ribs, and what looked like a stab wound low in her stomach.

Robin walked in the room, followed closely be Beastboy. "Hey, Raven, how are you feeling?"

"I've been better. Did something happen?" Beastboy returned to the chair next to her bed as she asked her question.

"Do you remember anything?"

"I remember getting hit pretty hard, then nothing."

She felt Beastboy's hand cover her own. She jerked her hand back as though the contact had stung, surprising even herself. Sudden memories assaulted her, waves of them. She woke strapped to a table, Mammoth leaning over her, pulling a needle out of her neck, a sick grin on his face. "I'm gonna make an example outta you, honey, and this is gonna be fun."

Raven tried to run for the bathroom as the meager contents of her stomach sought escape, she fell to her knees, her legs to weak to support her. Beastboy lifted her back to the bed with surprising strength., and Robin thrust a bowl in front of her a moment before she started retching into it.

After her stomach had stopped its convulsions, A green hand offered her a glass of water. She took it and rinsed out her mouth before taking a swallow. She dropped her head into her hands, fighting unwanted tears.

"After we rounded up all the hive students, we started looking for you. By the time we had found you…" Robin trailed off. "I'm sorry, Raven. We were too late to stop him."

Raven felt terror constricting her lungs, forcing her to gasp for air. "Get out please, I need to be alone."

Robin grabbed Beastboy's shoulder pushing him towards the door. "We'll leave, but you shouldn't be alone. I'm going to send Starfire in to sit with you."

"Fine , whatever, just get out." Her voice rose almost screaming as she spoke. What frightened her more than the terror she felt coursing through her, was that it was directed at Beastboy and Robin. Two of her best friends and she couldn't stand to be in the same room as them.

After they were gone, Raven's terror fled, her breathing returned to normal. She did not feel normal, did not know if she would ever feel right again. She knew why Robin didn't want her to be alone. He was afraid that she would hurt herself, try to kill herself. She would be lying to say that the thought was not going through her mind, a simple escape to the pain that seemed to be tearing her apart from the inside. She knew, though that it was a foolish escape. As much pain as she was in now, she knew that it would only be worse when she arrived early to her father's domain.

In the hall, after the door to the infirmary had closed, Robin turned to Beastboy. "Wait here until I get back. Don't go in unless you here… Use your best judgment." Without waiting for a reply, Robin turned and walked down the hallway.

Beastboy sank to the floor. When Raven first went missing he realized for the first time what his true feelings for her was. He was thrown into a panic, searching desperately for her, for the woman that he now knew he loved.

Now he was sitting outside of the door to the infirmary. He could here Raven's soft sobs, could smell her tears, but could do nothing to help her. When she looked at him, her eyes filled with terror, it tore him apart. He knew why she would feel that way about him, knew that for a while, maybe for a long time, she would fear him, fear Robin, fear Cyborg, fear any man she saw.

Robin came back with Starfire in tow. "Starfire, be kind of low key, alright? She's hurting right now."

"I understand, friend Robin." It was obvious that she had been crying, they all had except for Robin. "I shall sit with her for as long as necessary."

Starfire walked into the room and sat in the chair next to Raven. Raven had drawn her knees up to her chest, burying her face against them. "Friend Raven, I am happy to see that you are awake."

Raven uncurled herself and turned so that her legs hung off the edge of the bed. "Hey Star."

"How are you feeling?"

"I'll be okay."

"It is too bad that we do not live on my world."

"Why?"

"On my world if such a thing had been done, he would never be able to do it again."

"He'd put to death?"

"No, friend Raven, they are removed." Star put a great deal of emphasis on the word "they"

"I see." Raven wished that she could smile, but couldn't find it within her.

"There are few worse crimes on Tamaran than what he did."

"There aren't many worse here, either."

After Starfire had left them, Robin offered Beastboy a hand up. "Come on."

Beastboy followed Robin out of the infirmary area, and down the hall to the elevator. Once they had entered it Beastboy finally asked, "Where are we going?"

"Gonna have a sparing match." Occasionally, Beastboy and Robin spared in the gym, mainly to blow off some steam. Beastboy didn't need the training, and Robin had no difficulty beating Beastboy, but it helped sometimes to have something to take some swings at.

The two friends remained silent as the elevator continued its descent to the gym level. When the doors opened the both walked to the lockers where pads were kept. After donning padded gloves, helmets, and shoes, Beastboy and Robin squared off in the ring.

The two combatants circled each other, trading occasional jabs, testing each other's defenses. "Beastboy, I've got to ask you something."

"What?" Beastboy threw a jab that was easily countered.

"How do you feel about Raven?"

"What do you mean?"

"Out of everyone in the team, I didn't expect you to be the hardest his by what happened."

"I dunno, I guess when I realized that she was gone, something snapped."

"You realized that you'd never told her how you felt? You were afraid you'd lost the chance." Robin threw a punch that connected with Beastboy's shoulder, despite his attempt to block.

"Yeah, I guess I did. Maybe I have lost the chance."

"She'll heal."

"I know."

"Mammoth came out of his coma."

Beastboy faltered a little at this. "Yeah?"

"He had several broken ribs, a collapsed lung, a major concussion, you almost split his skull open, Beastboy."

"I'm sorry, I lost control."

"You're lucky. Because of the circumstances, the city is not pushing for your removal from the team. If Mammoth presses charges, there's not a thing we can do about it."

"I know."

"You can't lose control like that again. If we hadn't been able to pull you off of him, I have no doubt that you would have killed him, Beastboy." Robin managed a strong blow on Beastboy's chest, knocking him flat.

"I'm sorry Robin."

Robin stepped back, effectively ending the sparing match. "Don't apologize. If you hadn't of done it, I probably would have."

Robin glanced at the clock on the wall. "When was the last time you ate?"

Beastboy shrugged. "I dunno. Cyborg brought me something while I was watching Raven."

"Alright, when was the last time you slept?"

"Couple of days, I think."

"Go hit the sack, if anything comes up, I'll let you know."

Robin walked into the Tower's common area, and saw Cyborg standing in front of the T.V. "What's going on?"

"It's a circus, man. The phones been ringin' off the hook all day, reporters mostly."

"Mammoth?"

"They transferred him outta the ICU, trial's scheduled for next week if he's sufficiently recovered.

"Good."

The door slid open and Starfire walked in, one arm around Raven's shoulder. "Hey, Rae, good to see you up."

Raven flinched when he spoke, "Hey, Cy."

Starfire settled Raven onto one of the couches, and began to fix a cup of tea for her. After she had a mug in her hand she spoke up, "How long have I been out?"

Robin answered, "About three days."

"What've I missed?"

"Most of Hive is going on trial next week, and they're not getting away this time."

"Most?"

"Brother Blood got away with a few students, and Jynx turned."

"What do you mean?"

"We were looking for you, but were getting nowhere. Jynx called us and told you where you were."

"_What is going on here?"_

_Raven turned her head and saw a very angry Jynx standing in the door way. She heard Mammoth's voice from just above her, "Hey, boss, just havein' a little fun."_

_"Stop, now." Her voice left no doubt that what she saw enraged her._

_"No. You really think takin' a hostage would work? Every villain they've faced tried that. A hostage wouldn't work, but an example might."_

_"I didn't approve this. Get off of her."_

_Mammoth stood, his hands clenched into fists. Jynx could sense the other hive students gathering. "I didn't think you would. That's why I asked the headmaster, you don't like it, deal."_

_Jynx stared for a moment at Mammoth, before shaking her head. "You make me sick." She turned and fled out of the room, out of the building._

"When we showed up where you were being held, Jynx was waiting for us. If it wasn't for her, we wouldn't have been able to save you. Since Hive went down, though, she's been singing like a bird. She's handed over enough incriminating testimony to put them all away for good."

"I remember, she didn't know what they were going to do. When she ordered him to stop, she almost lost control of all of them. "Raven's numb fingers tightened around warm cup of tea that she held. "Anything big go down?"

"Actually it's been quiet. Its weird, nothing's happened since the fight."

Raven drained the last of the tea from her cup before standing. Starfire immediately followed her, but Raven waived her away. "I need some sleep." She looked at Robin. "Do you mind if I at least sleep alone?"

"If you need anything let us know, alright?"

"I will." She turned and started to walk out with a slight limp, but was stopped by Robin.

"Cyborg said there were some wired drugs in your system, still in your system. Until they're gone your powers won't work."

"I know. It might be for the best right now, I don't know if I'll be able to control them."

"Goodnight, Rae."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Raven woke screaming. The last vestiges of the dream were soon gone, but she could not stop herself as she curled in on herself, sobbing. She did not stop when her door flew from its place in the wall, landing in a crumpled heap on the far side of the room, admitting Beastboy entrance.  
Beastboy ran to Raven's side and scooped her up, sitting with her on the bed, he started rocking her back and forth, whispering into her ear, trying to calm her. Soon the others had joined them, standing awkwardly at the other end of the room, as Raven slowly returned to normal.  
Beastboy held Raven until her sobbing slowed, her breathing leveled out. He realized that she had fallen asleep. He looked up at the three other's standing, tears shining in his eyes. He got up carefully, laying Raven gently into the bed, he pulled the covers over her and he and the others walked out of the room.  
Cyborg examined the shattered doorframe, "You did a number on this thing, BB. It's gonna take me a while to put it back together."  
"Sorry. It was locked, and…"  
Robin interrupted him, "We should get some rest, everybody. You can fix the door tomorrow."

Raven sat on one end of the couch, her knees drawn up to her chest. She didn't have her usual morning cup of tea, just didn't feel like making it. Since she had woken up in the infirmary she had been plagued by a growing sense emptiness, as though everything she was had been taken away from her.  
She looked up when the green hand holding a teacup was thrust in front of her. She took it and smiled up at Beastboy, even while she wished that he wasn't so close to her. He moved away from her and sat on a nearby couch. "Morning, Rae."  
"Hey, Beastboy." She took a sip of her strong herbal tea, and allowed her self a small smile. "Thank you."  
"No problem, tea's easy to make."  
"For last night too, thank you for being there."  
"Of course, what are friends for?"  
"Did you have to do that to my door, though?"  
"I couldn't get it open, did you lock it?"  
"Nope."  
"Oh."  
They sat I silence while Raven sipped her tea. She finally broke it, "What's been happening with the Hive?"  
"Blood ran when he found out that Jynx had turned on him. Most of the students were rounded up when we got you out."  
Further conversation was cut short by Cyborg's voice coming over the communicators. "Guys, you've got to see this, turn on the news."  
Beastboy grabbed the remote and hit the on switch. Immediately a newscaster appeared on the screen, detailing a breaking story. "The eerie silence among Jump City's criminal elements was broken today when a group of well armed robbers attempted to rob the First National Bank. The police were preparing to call the Titan's for aid," at this a video came on the screen showing the robbers firing strange weapons at the police officers, "When who should show up to foil this attempt, none other than, Cinderblock." The video showed Cinderblock running up from somewhere off screen and attacking the would be robbers. It was a matter of only a few seconds before cinderblock stomped away, his arms empty of any loot, leaving behind unconscious criminals. "It seems that with one Titan temporarily off duty, even the criminal element has take to protecting our city."  
Beastboy flipped the television off before leaning back and looking at an equally confused Raven. "I never expected that to happen."  
"No, this is odd."  
Robin walked into the room, doing a last check on his utility belt. "Hey, guys, I've got some stuff to do today, so I'll be gone most of the day."  
"Did you here about Cinderblock? It was just on the news."  
"Overload did the same thing yesterday, an a bunch of sladebots. I'm gonna check it out."  
"Good luck, then."  
"Thanks, see you guys later." Robin stepped into the elevator, and soon they could here the sound of his motorcycle speeding away.  
Raven stood suddenly, "I'm not feeling all that well, I'm going to lie down."  
"Alright, if you need anything let me know."  
"Thanks, I will."

Robin slipped through the shadows of the abandoned warehouse. He had tracked Cinderblocks movements back here, one of Slade's previous hideouts. He moved silently through the ceiling joists, over the main part of the building and could see Slade standing before a bank of monitors, watching a dozen newscasts, while several radios spewed police reports.  
Rather than simply attacking Slade as he normally would have, he leaped from the shadows, and used a grappling hook to slow his descent, landing behind Slade, who turned an impassive eye on him. "Good morning, boy wonder."  
"Morning, Slade. What's going on?"  
"Many things, but what you are really here for, my dear boy, is you want to know why."  
"Yes."  
"It's simple, really. I have countless times tried to hurt and kill you. I have attempted to destroy your home, and steal your city. Mammoth, though, he crossed a line. What he did…" Slade paused, "There was no excuse, no justification for such an action, it was unforgivable. Until Raven is capable of fighting again, you may rest easy, I shall protect your city."

Beastboy held the controller for one of his many gaming system in unresponsive fingers. Game over flashed on the screen again, for the hundredth time that day, but he didn't care. He knew that Raven was in pain, she couldn't hid it in her normally flat gaze, couldn't hide her hurt. What frustrated Beastboy more than anything was the knowledge that he could not help her.

Robin walked into the living room, and stopped at the fridge long enough to get a can of soda. He sat on the couch near Beastboy and looked up at the screen flashing game over. "Where's Raven?"

"She said she wasn't feeling well. She's been in her room all day."

"Have you been checking on her?"

"Yeah, a few times. I asked her if she wanted some lunch, but she said she wasn't hungry."

"Maybe one of us could take some up to her."

"Starfire tried, she took it, but I don't know if she ate it."

Robin took a sip of his soda. "I went to the court house today."

"Yeah?"

"The lawyers say that they've finished with Jynx. Her trial's going to start soon."

"Any idea what's going to happen?"

"I know she won't last long if they put her in prison, she's made a lot of enemies in there by giving all this up."

"Is there any way to get her out of a prison stay?"

"I don't know. I've been pulling a few strings, trying to work out some kind of deal."

Beastboy glanced up at the clock on the wall. "I've got to go spot Cyborg, he's been keeping an eye on Raven for the last couple of hours. He stood and, followed by Robin, made their way to the command center of the tower.

Beastboy walked into the small room dominated by banks of monitors. A camera was placed in every room of the tower, most only active during an emergency. Right now the only active camera showed Raven asleep on her bed. "She been doing anything?" Robin asked.

Cyborg jumped, knocked out of whatever he had been thinking. "Nope, she just went to bed and hasn't moved yet."

Cyborg moved out of his chair, allowing Beastboy to take his place. For several minutes they all stared at Raven's unmoving form. Robin was the first to speak, "If she keeps doing this, I'm going ask that she talk to a therapist."

"Think its necessary?" Beastboy looked nervous, more at the prospect of asking Raven to see the therapist, than anything else.

"We can't just let her fade away."

"I know, but she won't like it."

"It's weird, y'all."

"What?" Robin looked over at Cyborg leaning against the door frame, his arms folded over his broad metal chest.

"How much we've changed since it happened."

Robin returned to watching Raven asleep on her bed. "Yeah, I guess. We seem to have matured or something."

Beastboy spoke up, "I think we realized that we weren't invincible, that we're only human."

"Huh?"

"We've been winning for so long, it became a game for us. It's not a game, though, this isn't for our amusement. It made me realize that this is a very dangerous business we're in, and we can't afford to get cocky."


	3. Chapter 3

AN

Sorry about the long wait for the new chapter. Just wanted to say thanks once again to Amnystist for the title.

Next chapter may not be for a while, I want to write one or two for my other.

Before I forget, Thanks for the reviews as well. Any constructive critisicm is welcome.

Bloody Eyes

Chapter 3

Raven was awakened by insistent knocking on her door. She sighed in irritation as she crossed her darkened room and slid her door open by two inches. Robin stood on the other side, his hand raised to knock again. "What?" Raven fought down the now familiar fear that threatened to consume her.

"Raven, we need to talk." Robin was obviously nervous about something.

"So talk."

"In private."

Raven sighed again, feigning irritation in order to hide her terror at being alone with Robin. "Fine." She stepped out of her room and started walking down the wide hallway, followed by Robin walking at a distance.

Raven led them to a rarely used kitchen, deeper in the tower. The tower had been built for a much larger group than currently used it, and the small kitchenette in the common room was usually sufficient for the five of them. If their team ever grew significantly, than they would use this kitchen, but for now it only collected dust.

Raven positioned herself across a large metal island from Robin, near an open door. She knew her fear of him was unfounded, Robin was a good friend, and her team leader, he would never hurt her, but she could not help the urge to run. "What did you want to talk about?" She managed to say this without letting out a telltale quiver in her voice.

"Raven, we're worried about you."

"I'm flattered, but you don't need to worry."

"You haven't left your room in three days. You've barely eaten anything, and you've done nothing but sleep. Raven, we're your friends. We want to help you, but your shutting us out now more than ever."

"I am fine. I've just not been feeling well, I think its just the stuff that M... he gave me to shut down my powers still working its way through my system." Her inability to say Mammoth's name worried her, and she knew that Robin wouldn't miss it.

"Alright, I can buy that, but I'm still worried. You can't go through something like that and be alright." Robin took a deep breath, preparing himself for what he expected to be a long battle, "Raven, I'd like you to talk to a therapist."

"No."

Robin waited to see if Raven would say something else, but she did not continue. "Raven, I just want you to go in and talk to her once, I just want to know that you're okay."

"I am fine, I don't need help, and I definitely don't need a shrink. I'm not crazy."

"Going to a shrink doesn't mean you're crazy, Raven, it just means that something happened that you need some help dealing with."

"I don't need help and I don't want help. I. Am. Fine." She said each word more forceful than the last, leaving her meaning perfectly clear. Robin's watch beeped, and he glanced down noting the time. "Need to be somewhere, Robin?"

"It can wait, this can't. Raven, we're all worried about you, we don't want to see you fade away. We are not going to just watch it happen."

"It won't happen, Robin. I'll be fine."

Robin sighed, hating himself for what he was about to do. "Raven, I'm asking you as a friend to go talk to this therapist, don't make me order you to do it, please don't make me order you to go."

His words gave Raven pause. Outside of a fight, Robin rarely gave orders and when he did they were for a good reason. Raven couldn't help but wonder if she was worse than she believed, if the others saw something that she didn't. "I'll go, I'll talk to her, but if I don't like what she has to say, I'm not going back."

"That's all I'm asking, just talk to her."

Raven nodded. "Perhaps I've given you guys reason to be scared, and I'm sorry for that."

"It's okay, Raven."

Raven turned and walked out into the hall. Robin followed her out, making sure to keep a good distance from her. As they walked Raven thought that she could here something, Robin's voice, "She took it better than I thought."

Raven looked back at him, "Did you say something?"

"No, why?"

"I thought I heard..."

Robin's voice came again, she now realized it was in her head, his thoughts, "What's going on?"

"My powers are coming back." Black energy flickered along the walls as she fought to control rising panic. "I've got to go, I've got to meditate." Without waiting for Robin's reply she took off, phasing through the ceiling, headed for the roof.

Robin walked into the common area of the tower. Cyborg was watching the news on one of the large televisions in the room, while Beastboy seemed totally engrossed by the book in his lap. Starfire was sitting next to the phone, staring off into space. When Robin walked into the room all eyes turned to him. "She agreed to go at least once." The others smiled at this news.

The phone rang, interrupting any questions. Starfire picked it up and held it to her ear. "Hello?" After a moment she spoke again, "We've already released a prepared statement, for now that will have to be enough." She held the phone for another moment before hanging it up. "It has not stopped ringing, friend Robin. They wish to interview friend Raven."

"I don't think she's ready for that yet. Her powers are starting to come back, I assume she's on the roof meditating; somebody should go check on her soon. I'm late, I have to her going now."

Beastboy stood, letting the book drop to the couch next to him, "I'll go check on her."

Robin nodded. "I don't know how long I'll be, and I need to take the T-car."

Cyborg scowled, "If there is one scratch on my baby when I get her back..."

He was interrupted by Robin, "Thanks, Cy, I knew you wouldn't mind."

Robin drove the T-car through the streets of Jump City, heading for a special maximum security prison. As he approached the gates, they swung open allowing him to enter. He parked in one of the available spaces and walked into the heavily fortified building.

At a metal detector just inside the doors, Robin divested himself of his belt and walked through. When the machinery gave no response he was waved by a machinegun wielding guard further into the building. He was led into a small room containing two chairs and a metal table, usually reserved for lawyers and their clients.

Robin sat in one of the chairs and leaned back, his hands resting easily on the table. After only a moments delay, the opposite door was opened and Jynx was led in. She had a despairing look on her face, that did not change when she saw him. She sat in the chair across the table from him and immediately asked, "How's Raven?"

"She'll be okay, how have you been?"

Jynx shrugged, "The stupid interviews finally stopped. Now they don't seem to know what to do with me. They said that if they put me in a normal prison, I won't last long, not after betraying Brother Blood."

"You're right. It won't be long before someone comes trying to get revenge, or curry favor from Blood." Robin paused for a moment, staring at Jynx thoughtfully, "I've been talking to the prosecutor, though. They're willing to offer a deal."

Jynx looked up at him. "Don't bother. Whatever happens to me, I'll get what I deserve."

"Jynx, you saved Raven's life. That means something. You've quite possibly sacrificed your own life, expecting nothing in return, to bring down Blood. I think that, though its a little late, you've changed."

"What happened to Raven was my fault in the first place, if I'd have had a better handle on my team..."

"They went over your head in order to get permission, and hide it from you, you're not to blame. I'm her team leader, its my job to make sure she doesn't get hurt."

"You can't watch your team all the time, it's not possible."

"That was my point, your team was careful not to let you know what they were doing, you're not responsible to what happened."

"Maybe not, but I've done so much, I deserve whatever I get."

"No, you don't. You saved one of my team members lives, and you've given the lawyers everything they need to put Blood and the other hive students away for a long time." Robin stared at her for a moment, "Why did you work for him."

Jynx shrugged, "I thought it was fun, doin whatever I wanted, gettin just about anything I wanted."

"So that's it, it was fun?"

"Nah, I though I owed him somethin. Before he took me in, I was on the street. He took me in gave me a bed and food, I figured it was the least I could do in return."

Robin nodded. "I can understand feeling obligated to work for him. I stuck with my mentor for years, even after I wanted to get out on my own."

"What made you finally leave?"

"Not anything in particular, things just came to a head and we figured it would be best to part ways. What made you give up Blood? You didn't have to do that, you know, didn't have to turn yourself in or give up so much."

"I guess it had just been building up for a long time, I just needed to get away and stop doing what I was doing. The thing with Raven was just the straw that broke the camel's back. I wish now that I had gotten out sooner."

"I'm glad you didn't get out sooner, they would have done what they did whether or not you were there, but because you were there you were able to help us stop them."

Jynx shook her head, effectively ending their conversation, "What deal did you work out for me?"

"About a lifetime of community service."

"What, they'd just let me go? What's the catch?"

Robin pulled a comunicator out of his pocket and dropped it on the table. He gave it a shove so that it slid and came to rest in front of Jynx. "You'd be my responsibility, one of my team members."

"You mean they'd just let me go if I become a Titan?"

"have to wear a tracking device, and report for parole meetings, but that's about it."

"No, I can't. I've done too much, just put me in prison and let someone finish me off."

Robin stood. "Come on, I've got something to show you."

He walked to the door that Jynx had been led in through and knocked. After a few whispered words with the guard he returned to the other door and pulled it open, waving Jynx to follow him.

Jynx stood with a sigh and followed him, grabbing the comunicator off the table. She pushed it at Robin, but he refused to take it, "Hold onto it for now. Wait until we're done."

Robin led Jynx out of the compound, though she half expected someone to stop them. At the gate he collected his gear and strapped it back on as they walked to the car. Once they were in the car and driving Robin spoke again, "Jynx, do you remember a girl named Terra? She was a Titan until recently."

"I don't think so, at least I never fought her."

"She showed up out of the blue, barely able to control her powers. I said something that drove her away, it was a misunderstanding, but she didn't stay long enough for me to explain." Robin pulled the car off the main roads, driving into the outskirts of the city towards the foothills of a nearby mountain. "When she came back a few months later, able to control her powers, we welcomed her back with open arms." He pulled to a stop in front of a cave mouth and got out of the car.

After she was standing, Jynx spoke, "She betrayed you, didn't she."

"She was Slade's apprentice. Only Raven was the least bit suspicious." They started walking up a path, towards the cave, "She was working with out arch-enemy, she took out our security systems, she tired to kill us, she helped Slade take over the city." They stopped outside of the cave. "Then, when it came down to the wire, she saved us. I've never seen someone so," he shook his head, "I don't know. While she was with us she and Beastboy, I don't know what they had, but they had something. When he ordered her to kill him, it was enough to break his control over her. She attacked him, but in her rage she woke up this volcano."

"I remember hearing about this. I was out of town, but I remember it."

Robin nodded. "When the volcano started, we all wanted to run. As powerful as we are, we can't stop a volcano." He walked into the cave, followed by Jynx. He led her to Terra, still frozen in place. "She sacrificed herself in order to save us, to save the city."

Jynx looked at Terra's petrified form. At its feet was a plaque. She could easily make out the words inscribed, "Terra, A True Titan, A True Friend" Next to the plaque a an old bouquet had lost most of its petals.

"If we were able to bring Terra back today, we would welcome her back. She betrayed us, but in the end she sacrificed everything to save us. I think everyone deserves another chance Jynx, even you."

Jynx stared down at the communicator that she still held, clenched in her fist.


	4. Chapter 4

Bloody Eyes

Chapter 4

After Robin walked out of the room, heading for his meeting Jynx, Beastboy grabbed a small card lying on a coffee table and glanced at it before shoving it into his pocket, "I'm goin' to go check on Raven."

Cyborg nodded, "Careful man, if she's having trouble keeping her powers in check, then she may lose control."

"I know, I'll be careful." Beastboy turned and walked out, heading for the stairs that would take him to the roof. He stopped outside of the roof access door, pausing to prepare himself for whatever state that Raven could be in. He pushed the door open and walked out into the afternoon sun.

Raven was sitting in the shade of some piece of equipment, her legs folded, slowly chanting her mantra. After hesitating for a moment, Beastboy approached slowly, not wanting to disturb her. Raven sensed Beastboy's approach, her empathy would not stop receiving the emotions of anyone near her, though she had never had this problem. What surprised her the most about Beastboy, was his feelings toward her. The few times that she had slipped and felt his emotion, she had never felt anything like this.

Raven could feel a complex mixture of emotion pouring off Beastboy. She could feel concern for her well-being, as well as a little for his own. She could also feel intense sadness at her obvious pain, fear that she would slip away from him, and anger that it had happened in the first place. Underlying it all was love for her, so intense it almost hurt to feel it, like getting too close to a sun.

Raven began to feel fear building. It was not the now familiar faceless terror that she felt when one of the boys was near, in Beastboy's case, that terror was gone. It was supplanted by a lesser fear, a fear that he would stop feeling the way that he felt about her.

Raven mentally shook her head, she couldn't allow herself that kind of weakness, couldn't allow herself to feel anything. She opened her eyes and saw him almost jump in surprise. "Hey, Rae. Did I mess you up?"

"No, is there something you needed?"

"Robin said that your powers were coming back, and I wanted to make sure you were okay."

"I'm fine, I just need to meditate."

"Okay." He stood uncertainly for a moment, "Robin said that you agreed to go to a therapist."

"I did."

Beastboy held the small card out to her. "Here, he made the appointment for tomorrow."

Raven took the card and glanced down at it. "Tomorrow at ten. Fine." She slipped the card under her cape, "Do you have a license?"

"Um, yeah. Why?"

"I can't fly yet, I'll need somebody to drive me."

"I don't know If Cy'll let me take the T-car, maybe you should ask somebody else."

"I'd prefer it if you did drive me, I'll talk to Cyborg."

"Alright, I don't mind."

Robin pulled the car into the garage and stepped out. He watched as Jynx climbed out of the passenger seat. She had traded her prison jumpsuit for her usual pink and black outfit. "So, Robin, do the others know about this?"

"I haven't talked to Raven yet, but the others know."

"Raven's the one I'm worried about meeting the most, what if she hates me for what happened?"

"Then I'll transfer you to Titans East, I've already talked to the lawyers and the judge, it won't be a problem." They started walking to the elevators, "Besides, you helped save her life, and she knows that."

Jynx did not look satisfied, "I hope you're right."

Raven and Beastboy both sat on the roof, Raven meditating and Beastboy simply watching the crashing of the waves, as they had for the last hour. Raven's eyes snapped open again, "What's she doing here?"

"What do you mean? Who?"

"Jynx, she's in the tower." Raven stood, unsure of what to do.

Beastboy stood before speaking, "Because of what she did, and what she's still doing to help take down hive, she was in danger. Robin's offered her a place on the team to help keep her out of harms way." He laid a hand on her arm, and was surprised that she didn't flinch away, "Are you going to be okay?"

Raven thought for a moment before responding, "I think so, it just surprised me, that's all." She looked down at Beastboy's hand, still resting on her arm and had to hide her smile. She mentally shook her head again, chastising for her rampant emotions. "Might as well go greet our new team mate."

Starfire and Cyborg were both in the common room, watching the news, when the elevator doors slid open. Cyborg flipped off the television as both he and Starfire stood. They saw Robin step out of the elevator, followed quickly by a nervous looking Jynx, clutching a small duffle bag as though it was a shield. Cyborg grinned, "Hey Jynx."

Jynx smiled weakly, "Hey Cyborg."

Starfire leaped at Jynx, sweeping her into a bone-crushing hug, "Friend Jynx, welcome!"

"Friend?" Jynx asked, once she had sufficiently recovered from Starfire's assault.

"Of course, you have save friend Raven's life."

When the doors on the other side of the room slid open, Jynx froze. Standing on the other side of the door were Beastboy and Raven. "Hey, Raven." Jynx managed with a small quiver in her voice.

Raven stepped out of the shadows of the hall, "Jynx."

Jynx fought sudden unwanted tears, "Raven, I..."

"No, Jynx. I know what happened, I know what you did for me, I don't blame you for what happened."

"Thank you."

An awkward silence filled the room, broken by Robin, "How about a celebratory dinner? How's pizza sound?"

His answer needed no real answer, immediately Cyborg and Beastboy were arguing about toppings, and both Jynx and Raven seemed to relax. Robin made his way over to Raven, careful to keep his distance, "Are you okay, Raven?"

Raven sat on the end of one of their couches before answering, "I'm okay. I got control of my powers."

"Good. Did Beastboy tell you about your appointment?"

"Yeah. You made it pretty fast after I agreed to go."

"I made it yesterday."

"So sure I was going to say yes?"

"Yup. I think I know you pretty well." Robin and Raven remained silent as everybody watched as Beastboy and Cyborg's yelling match turned into a wrestling match. "You seem pretty comfortable with Beastboy."

Raven shrugged. "I know, dunno why though."

Robin nodded. "I better break those two up before they do any damage."

While Robin worked on separating Beastboy and Cyborg, Jynx crossed the room to Raven. "How have you been, Raven?"

"As good as could be expected, I guess. Truth be told, now that my powers are coming back I'm feeling a lot better."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. I guess its because of my empathy."

"What do you mean?"

"On top of everything else I'm an empathy, I can feel other people's emotions. Usually it's blocked out, but I can't right now. Its a little weird."

"I can imagine." Jynx stood uncomfortably for a moment.

"Go ahead, ask."

"Ask what?"

"My telepathy isn't back yet, but I still know what's on your mind."

Jynx dropped to the couch with a small grin, "Am I really that transparent?"

"You've never struck me as the type of person who could hide something."

"Alright then, does he like me?"

"You'll have to ask him that yourself."

"I thought you could feel everybody's emotions."

"I can." Raven grinned back a Jynx, "Doesn't mean I'm gonna rat out on my teammates."

Any further conversation was cut short when Robin was able to separate Beastboy and Cyborg. "We can get more than one pizza!" He finally managed to get them both to here. "Veggie lover's, and meat lover's, and pepperoni, all large."

The titans, plus Jynx sat around the large table in one end of the common room. "Well, Jynx, I guess you're one of us." Cyborg said. "I'll get you set up in a room after the pizza's gone."

Robin leaned back in his seat, dropping the remains of his last piece of pizza on his plate, "Training's at ten, you can get up whenever you want."

Jynx nodded. "Thanks, Robin." She pulled another piece onto her plate, "Thanks everybody for making me feel welcome."

"Of course."

"So, Jynx," Cyborg managed around a mouthful of pizza, "Why don't you tell us about yourself?"

"Yes, friend, I wish to know more about you as well."

Jynx blushed under their questioning gazes. "There's not much to tell. When I was ten, that would be almost seven years ago, Brother Blood found me living on the street. I don't remember much before then, just wandering from town to town. I couldn't control my powers, well that's not quite accurate. I couldn't control my temper, and I didn't know how to control what my hex bolts did. Blood nursed me back to health, gave me a place to sleep and a family, and he helped me learn to control myself."

Robin was about to ask Jynx a question, when the tower's alarm went off. Robin pulled out his communicator, flipping it open. "Slade's already got his hands full, looks like we'll have to take care of it." The team stood, "Raven, are you up for a fight?"

"No, my power is not near full yet."

"Alright then, you stay here. Titans, move out."

The titans ran for the elevator that would take them to the garage level, all but Jynx who stood looking uncertain. "Do you want me to come?"

"You too Jynx, you're one of us now."

When the others were gone, Raven stood in the now empty common room feeling for the first time in a long time like she wanted some company. She cleaned up the mess left behind by dinner, humming tunelessly while she worked to fill up the silence. She jumped at a sound somewhere off in the tower. She shook her head at her own nerves while she continued to take care of the left over pizzas, and the dirty dishes.

She heard another noise. She could have sworn it was footsteps, but she knew that she was alone in the tower. Raven shoved the last of the dirty dishes aside and started toward her room.

About halfway there she heard a low, almost guttural chuckle. "Hey, hot stuff, we're gonna have lots of fun." Raven spun at hearing Mammoth's voice. She searched the shadows of the darkened hallway, but couldn't find him.

"There's nobody here, Raven." she whispered to herself, "You're just hearing things." She leaned her head against a wall, "Going crazy or something." Raven screamed when she felt hot breath on her neck, and a hand clamped down on her arm.


	5. Chapter 5

Bloody Eyes

Chapter 5

Raven squeezed her eyes shut, not wanting to see her assailant, before turning and pulling her arm easily out of his grasp. Without opening her eyes she threw one fist, and felt it connect with a nose and the edge of an eye socket. She spun back the way she had been going, even as she heard a thump as a body hit the floor behind her.

As she ran, Raven's more rational side screamed at her that something was wrong with this situation. If it had been Mammoth, he would have just laughed at her punch, she would still have been in his hands. When she realized this, she also realized that the hand had never closed around her arm, it had just rested on her shoulder before she panicked.

Raven turned back down the hall and saw Beastboy a few feet back. When he saw that she had stopped, he stopped as well, "Are you okay, Rae?"

"Beastboy, I'm sorry, I thought..." She fell silent as she felt terror stealing over her again. "Mammoth, he's here in the tower."

"Are you sure?" Beastboy closed the last few feet between them, carefully resting a hand on her shoulder again.

"Yes, I heard him." Raven could feel herself losing control, her breathing becoming short and choppy.

"Alright, Raven, we'll find him, just calm down, okay? You're gonna make yourself pass out."

Raven fought to control her emotions, willed her racing heart to slow. "I'm okay, but we have to find him."

"We will." Beastboy pulled his communicator off his belt, "Robin, are you guys back yet?"

"Yeah." Robin's voice sounded tinny coming from the communicator, "Why, what's up?"

"We're gonna search the tower. Look for any of the hive students."

"Anybody in particular?"

Beastboy glanced at Raven before answering, "Mammoth."

"Are you sure, last I heard..."

"I know, just check for him."

"Right. We'll start at the bottom, you start at the top."

Beastboy snapped his communicator closed and clipped it onto his belt before turning to Raven. Do you want to wait in your room?"

"No, I don't want to be alone." They walked to the end of the hall before Raven spoke again, "Beastboy, where is Mammoth?"

Beastboy stopped to lean against a wall. "He's in a hospital still."

"What happened to him?"

"I... I almost beat him to death."

"He couldn't be here could he?"

"No, last I heard he couldn't stand up straight yet."

Raven leaned against that wall, dropping her head back against it, "Am I going crazy?"

"What do you mean?"

"I heard his voice, I felt him touch me. Even after what you told me, I still want to go hide under my bed. I hate this."

Beastboy sighed as he put an arm around her, "You're not crazy. It was probably a flash back."

"A flashback?"

"Yeah, you have a memory so vivid it's like you're there. Sometimes it just screws up your perceptions so my hand felt like Mammoth."

"I know he's not here, but I still need to know." Raven shook her head and leaned it against the cool metal wall, "I'm not even making sense any more."

"Sure you are, you're just under a lot of stress." Beastboy carefully put an arm around Raven and pulled her close. "We'll finish the search, and then you can sleep peacefully."

The titans were gathered in the brightly lit common room. "Guys, I'm really sorry about this." Raven said, "I shouldn't have made you..."

"No." Robin interrupted her, "I'd much rather search the tower and find nothing than not search the tower when we should have."

"I know." Raven pulled herself back further into her seat and pulled her knees into her chest, "But I still feel horrible for it. I'll make it up to you guys."

"It is alright, friend, it is not necessary for you to do the making up."

"Maybe not, but I'll take you all out to eat tomorrow." Before anyone could reply Raven stood and stretched. "I'm going to bed, see you all in the morning."

After Raven left all eyes turned to Beastboy, "Hey, man, what happened?" Cyborg asked.

Beastboy shook his head, "I don't know. I found her standing in the hall breathing hard. I laid a hand on her arm and pow."

Robin stood and walked over to Beastboy, "That's quite a shiner she gave you. Want some ice?"

"Sure."

While Robin was getting an ice pack out of the freezer Jynx spoke, "You don't think this happened because I'm here, do you? If being here is a problem..."

"No." Beastboy answered her, "I think it was leaving her here alone. Even if you don't have issues, being alone in this huge building can be kind of weird. She got breathing hard and gave herself a panic attack, and that triggered a flashback." Beastboy took an offered ice pack from Robin and gently pressed it onto his swollen eye. "I'm worried about her."

"I know, we all are."

"I know it's just..." Beastboy shook his head, not knowing how to continue. "I don't know. The therapist'll give us a better idea of how she's doing, I guess that's all we can do."

Raven sat bolt upright in bed, stifling the scream that threatened to make itself heard. She leaned forward, holding her head in her hands trying to erase the feeling of Mammoth's hands from her mind, trying to hold back her tears. This night was like every other night since that attack, vivid nightmares of Mammoth. At least this time she didn't scream, didn't wake anyone.

Raven looked up when she heard a knock at her door. "Come in." She managed to keep her voice firm, and to make herself sound irritated.

The door slid open revealing Beastboy. He walked into the room with a nervous grin, "Did I wake you up?"

Raven sighed, "No, I just woke up myself, actually. Is there something you need?"

"No, I just though, well, I felt that, I mean I sensed that you were upset or something." he finally managed to stammer out.

"Sensed? You're not an empath, I would have sensed it."

"No, it comes from my animal instincts or whatever. I just know what you..." he stopped himself, "what people are feeling sometimes."

Raven caught his slip, but chose not to mention it. "I just had a bad dream, that's all."

When she did not elaborate, Beastboy pushed her, "Do you want to talk about it?" He settled into a chair near her bed.

"Not really." She sat in silence for a moment, studying his green skin and pointed ears, "So you can really sense emotion?"

"Sometimes. It's usually easiest when I'm just falling asleep or waking up, not so much of my human mind is awake to mess up my instincts."

"And you couldn't sleep?"

Beastboy thought back to the nightmare that had woken him only a few moments before Raven, blood covering his clawed hands, his long fangs. "Nope. Sometimes I just don't sleep well."

"I can probably do something that would help that, you know."

Beastboy waved his hand dismissively, "You don't have to worry about it, it's not really a problem."

A sudden thought struck Raven, "How do you know so much about flashbacks and stuff." Immediately her empathic abilities, which had been picking up nothing flared into life at strong emotions pouring off Beastboy, guilt, anger, hatred. Raven almost choked on the pain that she felt from him.

"It's not something that I like to talk about."

"That's okay." She managed to tamp down on her empathy, bringing it to a more comfortable level.

"You okay? You look a little pale."

"I'm fine. It's just that I felt a little of what you were feeling when I mentioned the flash backs."

"None of us in the tower have a happy past, and we don't really talk about them. Maybe I'll tell you another time."

"Alright." Raven climbed back under her covers, "I'm kind of tired, so..." she trailed off.

"Right, I'll let you get your rest." He stood and walked to the door, but paused. "Raven, I know the other guys still bother you, why don't I bother you so much?"

Raven shrugged. "You just don't."

"Sweet dreams, Raven."

"You too."

Beastboy walked out, letting the door slide silently shut behind him.

Raven walked out of the hall and into the commons area. The other titans were already gathered around the table, with Beastboy and Cyborg already into their usual meat versus tofu fight. She walked into the kitchenette and found a pot of water already heating on the stove. She pulled a mug down, filled it with the steaming water and dropped a tea bag into it.

Raven picked up her mug and walked out of the kitchenette area, and stopped a few feet from the foot of the table. She pulled her legs out from under her and hovered in place as Robin finally broke up Beastboy and Cyborg. The titans returned to finishing their breakfasts quickly, before Robin declared that it was time to train. "Raven, did anyone tell you when your appointment was?" Robin asked her.

"Beastboy told me yesterday. He's driving me."

At this Cyborg's head shot up. "That means he'll be takin' the t-car."

Beastboy looked up from his plate of food with a nervous look as Cyborg stood. "Yeah, do you mind?"

Cyborg walked around the table and stood behind Beastboy's shaking form. "Oh no, of course not." Beastboy jumped when two metal hands clamped down on his shoulders. "We just need to cover a few basic rules when driving it." He lifted Beastboy easily out of his chair. "I'll be a little late to practice, Rob."

Robin nodded. "Just don't hurt him too badly."

Cyborg nodded, a glint in his eye, "Don't you worry about that." He walked out of the room, heading for the garage, still carrying Beastboy at arms length.

After they left Robin spoke again, "Jynx, did you find everything okay?"

"Yeah, no problems. Great place you have here."

Robin nodded. "Any redecorating you want to do or anything, we'll help out with, anything you want to buy for your room or anything, just let me know."

"Will do." She pushed away the remnants of her meal. "First thing I want to do, is paint the place."

"Oh yes, friend! I shall help you select the color of paint." she sprang up from the table. "Also, we must select drapes, a bedspread, sheets, furniture..." as she spoke she sped up until the others had trouble making out what she was saying. She walked out of the room, still speaking, not noticing her friend's stairs, or that she walked out alone.

After she was gone, all eyes turned to the mug sitting at her plate. "You really gotta switch her to decaf, Robin." Jynx said.

"That was decaf." Robin reached over and picked up the mug. He tilted it to one side and saw congealed sugar coating the bottom. "I forgot to hide the sugar bowl."


	6. Chapter 6

A/N, Just wanted to say thanks for the reviews, I was a little nervous how people would take this story when I started, but it's been pretty well recieved.

Please R&R, reviews are what I live for sheepish grin

Hope you enjoy

Bloody Eyes

Chapter 6

Raven walked into the garage, looking for Beastboy and Cyborg. She saw Cyborg holding Beastboy, who was pinned to the wall. "You will follow the speed limit, you will not play with the buttons, you will drive carefully, you will not pop wheelies..." Cyborg was giving Beastboy a long list of do's and do not's when driving the T-car.

Something about the sight of Cyborg and Beastboy like that sent a shockwave of fear down her spine. She managed to keep her voice steady when she spoke, "Cyborg, we're going to be late, mind letting my driver go?"

Cyborg glanced back over his shoulder before dropping Beastboy to the ground. He leaned down for one more warning, "And if I find one scratch on her, I am going to wring your scrawny little neck, capice?"

"Yeah, man, I'll be careful with it." Beastboy stood and brushed himself off, "Where's the keys?"

Cyborg dropped the keys into Beastboy's outstretched hand. "Be careful with my baby."

Beastboy grinned as he ran to the passenger door and pulled it open with a flourish, "M'lady, your chariot awaits."

Raven gave Beastboy a weak smile as she settled into the seat. Beastboy ran around the car and jumped into the driver's seat, intercepting a scowl from Cyborg who was leaning against the wall near the door. He grinned wider when he jammed the key's into the ignition and started the car. "Wanna see something funny, Rae?"

Raven cringed, already knowing what Beastboy was planning, "He's going to kill you." she said as she buckled herself in.

"Maybe, but it'll be worth it." He jammed his foot on the gas peddle and tore out of the garage, to the sound of Cyborg's tortured cries and Beastboy's near maniacal laughter. As soon as the car was out of the tower and heading over the submersible bridge that connected the tower with the mainland, Beastboy slowed to the speed limit. He glanced over at Raven, who did not look fazed by the event. "Did that bother you, Rae?"

Raven glanced over at him, "No, why?"

Beastboy sniffed the air. "Remember our talk from last night, I can sense your emotions, it's pretty much true that dogs can smell fear."

"It wasn't your driving, it's something that I will have to deal with."

"I saw the bruises around your throat, did Mammoth..."

_Raven grasped weekly at the large hand the encircled her throat, pinning her to the wall. She struggled to breath, even as she wished that he would squeeze harder, ending her torture. As her world began to turn black, the hand loosened and her traitorous body greedily pulled in lungfulls of air, bringing her back from the brink of unconsciousness. Between her wheezing gasps she managed to speak in barely a whisper. Mammoth leaned in close to here her speak, "Just kill me now, please."_

_Mammoth grinned at her, a grin that would probably never leave her nightmares, "We're just getting started ,Raven, I've only had you for a few hours." His hand tightened, cutting off her air supply once again._

Raven's scream ended abruptly as she became aware of the strong hands that held gently onto her wrists. She could hear Beastboy as if from a distance, "Raven, please calm down. He's not here, he can't hurt you anymore, I won't let you."

Raven let her still struggling arms fall into her lap as her tears threatened to overwhelm her. Beastboy released her hands and collapsed back into his seat, "I'm sorry, Rae, I shouldn't have brought him up."

Raven choked back a sob before replying, "It's okay, you didn't know that would happen." She looked over and saw several long scratches down his cheek and the remnants of a black eye. "Beastboy, I'm sorry."

Beastboy looked at her, confusion on his face, "What do you mean?"

"Your face."

Beastboy angled the rear view mirror down to reflect his face and saw the scratches, "Never noticed, don't worry about it."

Raven reached up and ran her fingers down the long scratches, leaving unblemished skin in their wake. "I hate this."

"What do you mean?"

"I hate being weak, and I hate hurting my friends." Raven lost control as she wet into her hands.

Beastboy nervously pulled her into his arms, unsure of what her reaction would be. "Raven, you're not weak, and you're not hurting us. Don't say that again, don't even think it, okay?"

Raven sat in an uncomfortable seat in the therapist's waiting room, staring at a clip board without really seeing it. She knew she had to have these filled out before the appointment would begin, but seemed to be unable to focus on them. "You okay, Rae?"

Raven looked up at Beastboy sitting in a chair opposite the one she was in, "I'm fine." She looked down at the clip board, checking in the appropriate boxes and filling in blank spaces, "You know you didn't have to wait for me."

"I don't mind."

Raven filled in the last few spaces and took the clip board to the receptionist. The receptionist gave it a quick once over, her eyebrows raising at some of the answers, before nodding, "Alright, the doctor will be with you in a few minutes." She stood and walked out through a side door.

Raven sat back in her seat and crossed her arms, tapping her foot as she watched the clock. Soon the door opened and the receptionist came back, "She's ready for you, Raven." Raven stood and walked through the door that the receptionist indicated and into the therapist's office.

Raven saw an older woman sitting behind a large desk, examining that paper that Raven had just filled out. She looked up and saw Raven standing uncomfortably in the door way. She smiled up at her and indicated a chair across from her desk. "Come in, have a seat." Raven sat in the chair and stared down at her folded hands. "I am Dr. Harrison, and you are Raven, correct?"

"Yes"

"Is Raven your real name?"

"Yes."

"And no last name."

"We don't use them where I come from, not enough people to make it necessary."

The therapist scanned her sheet again, "Half-demon?"

"Yeah."

"Family therapy is out of the question then, hm?" She smiled up at Raven, who smile back weakly.

"Yeah, dad would just as soon eat your soul or something."

Dr. Harrison stood and led Raven to the other side of the room where two chairs and a couch were sitting. "Sit wherever you're comfortable and we can get started."

Raven simply pulled her legs out from under her and started hovering in mid air, her hands resting on her knees, and looked expectantly at the wide eyed therapist. "I'm ready."

"Alright." The therapist sat in one of the leather chairs and picked up a small notebook and pen from an end table. "If you ever want to know what I'm writing, just let me know and you can see my notes. Now, do you know why you're here?"

"I was..." she still found that she had difficulty even saying it. "I was raped. My friends don't think that I'm handling it well."

The therapist nodded, making a few notations. "And what do you think about your handling of the situation?"

"I'm having a hard time dealing with it, but who wouldn't?"

"You're right, anybody who goes through that spends some time dealing with it. My job is to help you learn to get past it, to move on from what happened." She made a few more notations and set her pad on the table. "Would you like anything to drink? Coffee, tea, soda?"

"Herbal tea, if you have any."

Raven watched as Dr. Harrison filled two coffee mugs and put them in a small microwave. She leaned against the wall next to it as it hummed away, "You don't want to be here, do you?"

"No. When Robin asked me to come, I tried to say no, I thought I could handle it on my own."

Dr. Harrison pulled the mugs out of the microwave. Into one she dropped a tea bag and into the other she stirred in instant coffee. She picked them up and walked back, giving the tea to Raven. "And now?"

"I don't know."

"What's changed since then?"

Beastboy looked up from the psychology magazine he had been flipping through, when the door opened. Raven stepped out as he stood. "She wants to talk to you, Beastboy." Beastboy nodded and walked through the door as Raven took a seat.

Beastboy walked into the therapist's office and saw her in one of the leather chairs in the corner. She waved him over, "Please have a seat."

Beastboy sat in the opposite chair and waited nervously for the therapist to speak, "I'm Dr. Harrison."

"I'm Beastboy."

"So, what do you think about what's been going on with Raven?"

"I don't know. It all kind of scares me, I don't like to see her hurting."

The doctor nodded, "I can't make any diagnoses yet, but if her symptoms persist after thirty days, then I'm going to call it post traumatic stress disorder. Do you know what that is?"

"Pretty much. Flashbacks, nightmares, depression."

"That's right, though flashbacks are somewhat rare." She consulted her notepad. "I would like to see Raven again, though I'm not sure what she had to say on the subject."

"Yeah, she really didn't want to come."

"If she doesn't come by her own choice, I can't do much to help her. Some people can handle it fine on their own though."

"She's strong, if anyone can, then she can."

"Good, support her, she needs all the friends that she can get right now."

"I know. We're all there for her."

"Good. One last thing before you leave, though. I've been in this business for twenty years now, and I've gotten pretty good at reading people. She needs friends now, but I don't think she's ready for anything more."

"I know."

Robin threw a flurry of punches into a well worn heavy bag, ending with a fierce kick. He stepped back and picked up a towel off a folding chair and used it to mop his sweating brow. As he reached for a water bottle, the door of the gym slid open, admitting Cyborg. "Hey, man, what's up?"

Cyborg looked nervous as he answered, "There's somebody here to see you, he's in your office?"

"Who?"

"Um... Batman."

Robin's eyes narrowed. He pushed past Cyborg and walked out into the hall, not slowing until he reached the door of his rarely used office. He slid the door open quickly, impatiently and walked in. His eyes locked onto the dark knight, his voice quivered with anger, "What are you doing in my city?"


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Sorry for the long wait for this update, and for it's length, shortest one yet. I don't like it much, I'm afraid, but I couldn't seem to get it right. Let me know what you think, please R&R.

Shameless plug time, I've got an all original story posted on this site, as well as If anybodies interested in taking a look, it is entitled "Lessa's Journey", and it is a high fantasy story.

On it can be found at: http/ it can be found at: http/ Eyes

Chapter 7

Robin folded his arms as he waited for Batman to respond, "Well? What did you come here for?"

Batman leaned back against the wall he was standing near, "I heard about what happened to Raven."

"So did you come to rub my nose in it? I'm just a kid, right? Not good enough to fight on my own, not good enough for my own team? Did you some to say, I told you so? Did you..."

Batman cut off Robin's tirade, "How long have you had this team?"

Robin gaped a little at the question, "About five years or so."

"In five years, how many casualties?"

"One."

"How many times have you saved the city?"

"I lost track."

"Robin, I didn't come to say, I told you so. To have one loss in five years, and the loss of Terra was not your fault, I sorely underestimated you, and I'm..." He seemed to have trouble continuing, "I'm sorry."

Robin's eyes widened, "You are apologizing, to me?"

"I've not had to apologize to many people in my life, but where it is owed, I'll give it."

"Thank you, but you were right, I failed as a leader."

Batman sat in one of the chairs facing Robin's desk. "Robin, I saw some of the footage from the fight. How many hive students were there?"

"I don't know, maybe fifty or sixty, they were determined to win."

"And who else showed up?"

"The five of us, medical crews, emergency crews, special police force officers, ad bystanders. Over a hundred and fifty in all."

"And you truly expected to keep track of four people in a mass of one hundred and fifty plus people? You try your best, but nobody can do that. Now that this has happened, all you can do is help her put her life back together." Any further conversation was cut short by a beeping from Batman's utility belt. Batman unclipped a small device and looked at its small screen, "Go, Alfred."

"Sir, the Joker has escaped from Arkham... again."

"I'm on my way."

Robin slid the door open, "You'd better hurry."

"One last thing before I leave."

"What?"

"I'm getting to old to protect Gotham on my own."

"So get a sidekick." Robin said with a wry grin.

"It's not so easy, people will have a problem if I have anybody but Robin, you know as well as I do that image is everything."

"I'm not going back with you."

"I don't want you back."

Raven and Beastboy rode in silence, that was soon broken by Beastboy, "You wanna get something to eat?"

Raven pulled her attention back from the city streets around them to Beastboy. "Sure."

"Where do you wanna go, you pick."

"I don't care, food is food."

"Alright." Beastboy said as he scanned the sidewalks for restaurants. Soon he spotted a new place that served Italian. "How's that place look?"

"Fine."

Beastboy pulled in and they both got out of the car. They walked into the restaurant and were immediately recognized. After they were seated at a good table and given menus, Beastboy tried to start a conversation, "So, what did the therapist say?"

"Id rather not talk about it."

"Alright." He stared down at his menu, not really seeing the foods listed. "Anything look good to you?"

Raven shrugged, not really reading the menu. "I don't know." When the waiter returned for drink orders, Beastboy ordered root beer, and Raven ordered her usual herbal tea. They sat in near silence, both sipping their drinks as they pretended to read the menus. Soon Raven broke the tense silence again. "There's somewhere I'd like to go before we head back to the tower."

"Where?"

"I'll tell you when we get back to the car."

Beastboy pulled the car to a stop before the abandoned warehouse. He looked at Raven's impassive features, "Are you sure you want to do this?"

Raven stared up at the large building, her face revealing nothing to him, "Yeah, I think I need to do this." She got out of the car, followed quickly by Beastboy. "I think it'll help me deal."

They walked to the small side door and saw that the yellow police tape was still up. It glowed black and tore, fluttering to the ground and out of their way. Raven pushed the door open on squeaky hinges and walked into the darkened building. As she waited, just inside, for her eyes to adjust to the dark room, Beastboy followed her in. He flipped a switch that he saw near the door, bathing the room in light, temporarily blinding them both.

When their vision cleared, Raven saw the place that she had hoped never to see again. As she walked through the building, ravaged by the battle that happened here, she found herself oddly distanced from what happened to her. When she asked Beastboy to drive her to the warehouse, she was expecting to feel terror, depression, and rage. Instead, staring at the bed she had awakened chained to, seeing the tattered remains of her leotard still lying on the floor, she felt nothing.

Beastboy stepped up behind Raven, "Are you okay?"

Raven glanced back to him, "I'll be fine." She turned her stony face back to the room, trying to shake the feeling that something was missing from her, trying to find some emotional reaction for herself. Soon she turned back to Beastboy. It was obvious that he was troubled by his memories of what happened here. "I'm ready, let's go back." Without another word, or waiting for Beastboy's response, she walked out and into the afternoon sun.

Beastboy watched her go, confusion evident on his features. He had expected something from Raven, even if she had taken much longer than a week to recover before coming back here, he expected her to have shown some response. Her demeanor, and her behavior as she left almost led him to believe that she was back to normal, but his instincts screamed at him that all was not as it should be. He followed her out, ready to go home.

Raven and Beastboy walked silently into the tower. In the common area, they saw a strange man, dressed totally in black, leaning into the fridge. Both titans glanced at each other, both silently preparing for whatever this intruder would send their way. Beastboy shifted into the form of a large gorilla, trying to step quietly on the metal floor, while Raven levitated several feet off the floor, her hands becoming encased in black energy. "Can we help you with something?" She asked.

The figure in the fridge stiffened. He spun as he stood up, "Hey, guys."

Beastboy shifted into his normal for, while Raven dropped to the floor, "Dude, is that you?"

Raven lifted one eyebrow, "Robin?"

Robin kicked the fridge door closed, and dropped a can of soda on the counter. "Not any more, now I'm..."

"Nightwing!" The ear piercing shriek came from the door to the bed rooms. Starfire flew into the room and latched onto Nightwing's chest, compacting the air out of him. "I have waited for this time!"

"Hey, Star." Nightwing managed between gasps. "Why exactly does this have you so excited?"

"When I traveled to the future, Nightwing indicated that he became Nightwing after the Titans were no more. This means, we are not drifting."

"Good for us." Raven droned in a familiar monotone. "I'll be in my room."

"Wait, Raven, how'd..." Nightwing started to ask, before Raven interrupted him.

"Ask Beastboy." She started to walk to the door, but stopped when she saw a folded newspaper lying on a counter. She started to reach for it, but was stopped by Nightwing.

"Raven, you might not want..." She cut him off.

"Since I've woken up, you've all been hiding the newspapers from me and turning off the television when I walk into a room. What is being said?"

Nightwing sighed, "People say stupid things when something like this happens."

Raven picked up the newspaper, scanning the headlines. Nightwing knew that the paper she held had one of the more outlandish stories, claiming to give tawdry details of a steamy love affair between Mammoth and Raven. The all braced for the reaction that they expected, but Raven simply dropped the paper back to the counter and started walking for the door. "Uh, Raven, are you okay?" Beastboy asked.

"People will say what they want to say no matter what I or anyone else does." With that she walked out.

Nightwing turned to Beastboy, "What happened?"

"I don't know, man. She was fine at first, then she freaked out on the way to the therapist, she had a flashback. Since she finished her appointment, she's been like this."

"Perhaps," Starfire intoned, "Friend Raven is learning to handle it."

Beastboy stared at the door that Raven had just passed through thoughtfully, "I hope so."


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Sorry for the long wait since my last update, I've had a bit of writer's block with this one. I think I've got it licked though, so this one should be updating a bit more often. Hope you enjoy, please R&R.

Bloody Eyes

Chapter x

Beastboy's punch went wide, barely clipping Nightwing's shoulder. He attempted to follow through with a kick, but Nightwing was able to slip his own punch through Beastboy's defenses, catching him in the gut. "What's wrong, Beastboy?" he asked as he dropped back into his fighting stance.

"What makes you think something's wrong?" Beastboy asked as he threw a light jab to Nightwing's face.

"You're not fighting up to par." Nightwing easily caught a punch and twisted, throwing Beastboy flat. "So, what's on your mind?"

Beastboy sat up from his position on the floor, and wrapped his arms around his knees. "I'm worried about Raven, that's all."

"She seems to be doing well, she seems almost back to normal." Nightwing leaned against the wall, his arms folded, "She's requested to be put back on active duty, you know."

"I know, it's probably my own paranoia, I shouldn't have mentioned it."

"It may be your own paranoia, but thanks for mentioning it, I'll keep a close eye on her."

"Thanks."

Nightwing's communicator beeped, then they heard Starfire's voice, "Friends, dinner will be in one half hour."

Nightwing grabbed it and replied, "Thanks, Star, we'll be up soon." He offered a hand to Beastboy, "Don't worry about her, she's strong."

"I know she's strong, but even if she had a problem she'd never tell us."

They walked in silence down the hallway, each heading for their own rooms. As they neared Raven's room, the strong scent of sandalwood permeated the hallway. As they neared her door, Nightwing noticed Beastboy giving it an odd look. "What's wrong?"

Beastboy's head snapped back to Nightwing. "Probably nothing." he glanced at her closed door again, "Just the incense."

Nightwing took a whiff of the strong scent of sandalwood. "Your senses are better than a human's, right?"

"Yeah, but it's okay, I can handle something like this."

They arrived at Robins room and stopped, "See you at supper, BB."

"Yeah, see ya." As soon as the door closed, Beastboy turned and walked back to Raven's room. He considered knocking, as the strange scent hit him again, the incense, with undertones of iron, a scent he knew well. Instead he entered the combination to Raven's lock on the keypad. He had figured the combination out for one of his innumerable pranks, and she had never bothered to change it.

As soon as the door slid open, Raven stood from her bed. Beastboy caught the glint of metal as her cloak closed around her. "Get out of my room."

Beastboy took a step into her room and allowed the door to close behind him, he reached back and slapped the button that locked it. "What do you think you're doing, Rae?"

"What am I doing? How dare you barge into my room like this?"

Beastboy crossed the room in a few steps, causing Raven to back up to the wall. Beastboy's hand shot out and grabbed the corner of her cloak, but she moved out of the way. "Get out, now."

"Raven, what are you doing to yourself?"

"Nothing." Her voice quavered.

Beastboy's hand shot out again, this time snagging her forearm. He pulled her hand up, fighting against her resistance. The first thing that he saw was the glint of metal, the bloody razor still held between her fingers. "What are you doing, Raven?" He took the razor from her now limp hand, before he guided her to the bed and sat her down. He knelt and lifted her other arm, examining the long cuts that covered it. "You wanna tell me why you're doing this?"

Raven didn't answer, only stared at the floor. Beastboy sighed as he sat on the bed next to her. "You've searched your whole life for a way to stop feeling, to make your emotions vanish. Now they're gone, and you're in a living hell."

Raven looked up, surprise evident in her features. "What would you know about that?"

Beastboy stared down at the wrappings that covered his hands and forearms for his sparring matches. "Depression always starts as feeling bad, feeling mad or sad, or frustrated, all the time. As you go deeper, though, that fades, along with everything else." He yanked the velcro straps that held them on, watching the strips of cloth fall away.

Raven watched as his arms uncovered. Underneath the cloth were scars. Old scars long healed, running most of the length of his forearms. "Why did you do that?"

"None of us came from picture perfect backgrounds. After my parents died, I was kidnapped by thieves, forced to steal for them. I was alone, though. To them I was a way to make money, but still an irritation to them. I started this to try to keep the numbness that seemed to be eating me away. It didn't work." He emphasized each word of the last sentence. "I didn't have anybody to help me, you got a room full of them right over there."

"I know, I just..."

Beastboy rewrapped his arms, taking care to cover his scars. After his arms were covered again he unclipped his communicator. Raven put a hand on his, "Please, don't do this." she pleaded, on the edge of tears.

"I'm sorry, Rae. I can't take the chance of you going too far accidentally, or for deciding that this isn't enough." He lifted the communicator and depressed the talk button, "Hey, Nightwing, you there?"

After a pause they got a reply, "What's up?"

"Could you come to Raven's room for a minute?"

"Is something wrong?"

"Just get up here, I'll explain then."

"Give me a few minutes, I'll be up."

Beastboy took Raven's hand again, examining the cuts that littered her arm, "You should heal these." He watched, almost in awe, as the wounds closed, leaving her skin flawless. "I don't want to see them again, Raven. I care about you too much to watch you fall apart like this, we all do."

"I'm sorry."

There was a light knock on the door. With a wave of Raven's hand the door slid open, admitting Nightwing. He walked in and looked from one face to the other, "What's up?"

Raven swallowed hard before she attempted to speak, "I don't think I can go back on active duty."

"Why not, what happened?"

"I was... I..." She found herself unable to speak, so Beastboy finished it for her.

"She was cutting herself."

Nightwing's eyes widened in shock, "Is this right, Raven?"

Raven nodded before looking down at her arm once again, "I healed it."

Beastboy held up the bloody razor, still in his hand. Nightwing took it and seemed to study it for a moment, "Do you have any others?"

Raven indicated a drawer in her nightstand. Inside Nightwing found a package of simple razor blades, missing only the one he held. He looked around the room at her many ceremonial daggers, "Anything with a cutting edge has to be moved out of here before we go to bed, if you want we can store it all in the vault. I also want you to go back to the therapist."

"Robin, psychiatry here is pointless. They take a shot in the dark and hope they don't mess their patients up worse than they already are."

"Do you have any alternatives? What about Azerath?"

"I left Azerath for a reason, I can't go back."

Nightwing nodded. "Fine, but you need to get some help. I don't know how to help you, I wish I could, but..." Nightwing shook his head, "Find someone to help you, please."

Nightwing's communicator spoke, "Friend Nightwing, dinner is ready."

Nightwing unclipped it from his belt, "Ill be right there." To Raven he said, "I don't want you to be alone for now. Not until we get the knives out of your room, understand?"

Raven nodded.

Raven looked at her strangely barren shelves. Many of the precious antiques and powerful magical tools that she owned were dagger and knives. These were now carefully packed away and locked in the vault. Beastboy sat near her bed, while she lay back, "You know, you don't have to sit with me."

"I know, but it helps to have somebody there."

"Thank you, for everything."

"Don't mention it, I just want you to be better." Beastboy stared at the carpeted floor while he worked up the courage to ask his next question, "Why can't you go back to Azerath?"

Raven sighed deeply, a look of sadness briefly crossing her face. "Because of me, most of the city was reduced to rubble. Thousands died in the space of a few hours."

"What do you mean, because of you?"

"Before I was born, my mother ran to Azerath to escape my father. He went there looking for me, and destroyed everything that stood in his way. I can't go back there, not after what I've done."

"You didn't do it though, I mean how old were you? Twelve? Thirteen?"

"Ten."

"And you blame yourself for what happened? You aren't to blame."

"I know."

"Do the Azerans blame you?"

"No. They knew about my father, knew what he would do, but they allowed us to stay anyway."

"Then, it's your own guilt keeping you away."

"Yes."

"Can they help you there?"

"Probably."

"Then go back, if they don't blame you, then there's nothing but your own misplaced guilt keeping you away."

Raven stared at her ceiling, deep in thought. "Would you go with me?"


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: I am going to be updating this story once again. I apologize for the crappy ending it had before. I had totally run dry on this story and need and extended break from it. I always hate when people take long breaks, leaving stories unfinished. I know this can be unavoidable, but I want to avoid it.

Bloody Eyes

Chapter 9

Beastboy hefted his large backpack and looked at the blasted landscape that surrounded him. "Wow, your father do all of this?" He looked at Raven, melancholy written on her pale features.

"Most of the damage outside of the city was done by defenders. When you're fighting a demon as powerful as Trigon, you don't hold anything back, or you will die."

Beastboy looked once more around the crater pocked landscape, "You do any of this?"

Raven studied the landscape, and pointed to what looked like a shattered mountain. "I helped drop that on part of his army."

"You moved a mountain."

"It took a dozen people to get that thing off the ground, if I remember right."

Beastboy and Raven both jumped at the voice coming from above them. Looking up they saw a man floating ten feet off the ground. "Devon, is that you?"

The man in question grinned as he dropped to the ground, "Raven, it's been so long." He took a step towards her, his arms outstretched, intending to hug her, until she drew back and Beastboy let slip a growl. He stepped back, his arms dropping to his sides, "What's happened?"

"I'd rather not talk about it. Is my mother still at the same place?"

"Yeah."

--------------------

Beastboy couldn't help but gape at the tall spires that lined the streets of the city. "The city is beautiful, Rae. I can't believe you've stayed away for so long."

"I've got a lot of bad memories tied up here, stuff that I didn't really want to relive."

"So, you're mother, I thought you said that she died a long time ago."

"Yeah, she died during Trigon's attack, but I was adopted by another woman, Jasmine. She took care of me until she decided that I was old enough to leave."

"And now you're with us."

"Yup." Raven stopped in front of one of the towers. "This is it." She stepped onto a lighter colored circle set into the pavement and pulled Beastboy on. "Hold on." Silently the platform lifted from the sidewalk and carried them to a balcony near the top of the tower.

Beastboy stumbled onto the balcony, a little pale from their swift journey. "Wow, that was cool."

"Yeah, I guess. They're not so cool when you grow up with them, they're just there."

Once they reached a high balcony, and stepped off the floating disks, Beastboy stopped for a moment to study Raven. Despite his near empathic ability to sense her emotions, he felt nothing from her. This total absence worried him more than if she had been near the breaking point. "You okay?"

"I'm fine."

A door set into one wall opened and a tall woman with long black hair stepped onto the balcony. Her eyes lit when she saw Raven standing near the railing. "Raven, you've come home?" but then her face fell. "What happened to you?" She ran to Raven and pulled her into her arms, "What happened?"

Raven felt as though barriers broke as she began weeping in her mother's embrace.

----------------------

In Jasmine's home, Beastboy sat uncomfortably on the couch. After Raven had pulled herself back together, she gave a rather dispassionate account of what had brought her back. Beastboy's mind wandered, musing over what had happened, and how he now felt. He was snapped out of his reverie when he heard his name, "This is Beastboy, he's helped me a lot since it happened."

Jasmine looked at Beastboy and smiled weakly. "Then I have much to thank you for, Beastboy. You are welcome to stay here for as long as you and Raven are in the city."

"Thank you, I'll try not to be a bother."

"Don't worry, you are our guest ."

Jasmine turned back to Raven, "I will speak with the healers later, but for now you are probably tired from your trip."

"Yeah, a little."

"Alright, we haven't touched anything in your room, and I'll show your friend to his room."

"Thanks mom." She looked over at Beastboy, "Do you mind if I go get some sleep?"

"Of course not, I could use some sleep too." Raven nodded once before walking out of the room.

After Raven was gone, Beastboy looked at Jasmine. "Are you okay?"

"I will be." She stared down at her interlaced fingers, "When Raven left, I imagined many horrible things that could have happened on earth, but I never... I never once thought that something like this could happen."

"I know. It was a shock to everyone."

"How has she handled it?"

"Not to well, I think. After a while, it's like she lost the capacity to feel at all."

"That can happen after a trauma."

"I just hope she finds what she needs here."

----------------------

"I contacted your father."

Beastboy's head shot up, "Father?"

"Yes. He'll be back tomorrow."

"He shouldn't come back on my account."

"Whether or not you think so, he wants to be here for you."

"Where is he?"

"He patrols the wastelands. Trigon's presence sometimes creates aberrations in nature, monstrous beasts that can be dangerous if they are not taken care of."

"His job is too important to drop it like this."

"There have been no attacks of late, and they have found fewer of the aberrations than ever. They can spare him for a few days." She toyed with the lettuce on her plate, "I also contacted a healer. She wants to meet with you tomorrow."

"Alright."

"What else has happened in the time since you've left?"

Raven shrugged, "I made some friends." Raven dropped her fork and spent the next half hour telling the stories of some of their more exiting adventures, with help from Beastboy.

-----------------------

Raven hovered, cross-legged, a few feet from another woman in an identical position. The sat unmoving, unspeaking. Beastboy sat under a tree on the other side of the park, dozing in its shade. He was awakened by Jasmine, "What kind of a relationship do you have with Raven?"

Beastboy opened his eyes and shrugged, "We're close friends. That's all."

Jasmine sat next to him, and they sat silently for several minutes, "Don't lose her, Beastboy. You are a fine lad, and she deserves someone like you."

"I won't." They sat in silence again, until it was broken by Beastboy, "There's something I've been wondering."

"Yes?"

"Why haven't Raven's powers gone crazy yet? Her power is back full strength, and she's pretty emotionally unstable right now. Everything should be blowing up, right?"

"I don't know."

"Maybe it's cause her powers were taken away. Then when they came back slowly, she was able to learn how to control them better."

Jasmine considered this, "Maybe. When her powers first manifested, they manifested at full strength."

"What happened?"

"I'd... I'd rather not say, but she never gave herself a chance to truly learn to control her power."

"What are they doin' over there?"

"They are communicating telepathically. They may be reliving it."

"Reliving it?"

"It helps her deal with it. It seems harsh, but it helps."

"She went to a psychiatrist on Earth..."

"Little better than witch doctors or shaman."

"That's kinda what Raven said, but the doctor told me to see if she would go back to where it happened. That's kinda the same idea, I guess."

"It sounds like it."

--------------------

Beastboy stared up at the blank darkened ceiling. After a day of minimal activity, he was still wide awake. He thought about his conversation with Jasmine, about confessing his feelings to her. His thoughts were cut short by a cry from Raven's room. Without a thought, he was out of his room and in Raven's.

He saw her pressed into a corner, her knees drawn up to her chest, her face buried in her knees.

Beastboy ran to her, and pulled her into his arms, cradling her. "It's alright now, I'm here, Raven." He stroked her hair as he rocked her back and forth gently, "I won't let anything happen Raven, you're safe with me here."

Presently, Raven's sobs slowed, then ended. They sat in silence for several moments, Beastboy holding her tightly. "Are you better now, Raven?"

She nodded, but held onto him, "Don't leave me alone."

"I'll never leave you, Raven, I love you."


	10. Chapter 10

Bloody Eyes

Chapter 10

Raven woke to an empty bed. She rested her hand on the still warm space next to her and sighed as she remembered Beastboy's words the night before. She stood up and grabbed a robe from near the bed. She pulled it on and had just belted it around her waist when Beastboy walked in with a tray of food. "What is that?"

Beastboy grinned, "Breakfast. Supposed to be in bed, but you're not there anymore." He carefully sat the tray at the foot of the bed. "Hop back in."

"Hop back in?"

"Sure. Can't have breakfast in bed if you're not in bed. When was the last time you had breakfast in bed anyway?"

"I don't think I ever have."

Beastboy gaped at her in mock horror, "Never had breakfast in bed?" He pointed a stern finger at the bed, "In, now."

Raven shook her head as she dropped her robe and climbed back into the bed, "Happy now?"

"Not really, but it's a start." He slid the tray over her lap and pulled a plate of fruit off for himself. On the remaining plate was a stack of pancakes and scrambled eggs. Next to the plate was a mug of herb tea. "Can you believe that your mother never heard of pancakes? I couldn't believe it."

"I know, isn't it awful?" Raven deadpanned as she took a careful bite of eggs. "Thank you for breakfast."

"No problem."

"Look, about last night..."

"I meant every word of what I said."

"I was afraid of that. Look, I have to keep my emotions..."

"No, you don't."

"Excuse me?"

"Your powers are back, but nothing blows up when you get mad, or when you have nightmares, nothing."

"I don't know why, it may start up any day. I don't want to lead you on in a relationship that may be short lived."

"I don't think you'll have a problem. Your mother and I came up with something."

Raven dropped her fork on her half eaten breakfast, "This ought to be good."

"No, seriously, your mother agrees with me. Your powers, they popped up really suddenly the first time, right?" Raven nodded. "Your mother didn't tell me what happend, but I'm guessing it was pretty bad. In order to keep anyone from getting hurt, you clamped down on your powers, and that was that."

"Your point?"

"You've had an opportunity now to have your powers grow slowly while you were feeling emotions that you had no control over."

"So, your saying I've finally learned to control my powers properly?"

"Yes."

"I don't buy it."

"How about a test then?"

"A test?"

"Yeah, I try to get an emotion out of you, and we see if anything blows up."

"What are you going to do, tell a joke?"

Beastboy grinned at her, "I had considered it, but it's never worked in the past."

"So what are you going to do?" Beastboy grinned and started to lean in closer to her. "What are you doing?" Beastboy leaned forward, his eyes never leaving hers until they were no more than an inch apart, "We shouldn't be doing this."

"Why not?"

"I don't want to hurt you."

In a quick movement, Beastboy leaned forward, and Raven could not swear that she didn't lean forward to meet him. Their lips brushed in a brief electric flash, then pressed more firmly together. Beastboy leaned back and stared into her eyes again, "Nothing went boom."

Raven nodded numbly, "Nothin went boom." She seemed to collect herself, "That was stupid, Beastboy." She pushed back the tray and stood. "You could have gotten hurt."

"I didn't, my theory is proven right."

"And what if it had triggered a flashback or something? I've hurt you before."

"If you had told me to stop, or if I had sensed you getting too agitated, I would have stopped."

"It was still a stupid thing to do."

"I don't think so."

There was a loud knock on the door. "My mother's an empath."

Beastboy cringed as the door opened, revealing Jasmine. "Good morning, mom." Raven said, with a somewhat frightened smile.

"You seem to be feeling better."

"Yeah."

"Your father will be back soon."

"Alright."

There was a tense silence before Jasmine spoke again, "And the door is to stay open if Beastboy is in the room."

"Yes ma'am.

--------------------

Beastboy sat at one end of the couch in the living room. A book was open in his lap, but he was staring into space. A door opened and Raven walked in, her hair still damp from a shower. "Hey, Raven."

Raven sat at the other end of the couch. "Hi."

"So, when we get back, do you wanna go out?"

Raven dropped her head into her hands, "Just because nothing happened this time, doesn't mean..."

"You felt an emotion strong enough for your mother to sense it, and nothing happened."

"And what happens if in the end, I have to stop feeling again?"

"Then we've had a little time together, we've had our chance to be happy for a while."

"You really want to take the chance? You want to get that close to me?"

"I'm willing to take any chance. I love you."

"Don't say that, you don't even know what love is."

"How do you know that? I may act like a little kid most of the time, but I'm not."

"I don't want to hurt you."

"I don't think it will be a problem." Beastboy turned to face her, pulling his legs up under him as he dropped his book on an end table. "Just give us a chance."

Raven sighed as she dropped her head into her hands again, "Just a chance."

"That's all I'm asking."

"And if I have to stop feeling?"

"Then I'll be grateful I had you for as long as I did."

"Alright."

"Really?"

"Yes."

Beastboy stared open mouthed for a moment before he jumped to his feet and began his victory dance, "Go Beastboy, it's your birthday, go Beastboy."

"And I am left wondering about my sanity."

Jasmine walked in from the kitchen and stopped to stare at Beastboy, "What's he doing?"

"I don't know, I think he may have gone into convulsions."

"I see. You're father will be here soon."

"Okay."

As soon as Jasmine had left the room, Beastboy collapsed onto the couch, exhausted. "So, what does this make us?"

"I don't know, it was all your idea."

"Alright then, will you be my girlfriend?"

"Sure." Beastboy grinned and started to jump to his feet. Raven's hand shot out and grabbed his arm, pulling him back down, "Don't do the dance again."

--------------------

Raven hovered over the balconey of Jasmine's home, meditating. Beastboy sat nearby, his book open in his lap again, but now just watching Raven. There was a whirring sound and the platform that Raven and Beastboy had used to get up to the building originally carried a man up to the balconey. The first thing that caught Beastboy's attention was the large sword strapped to the man's back, and the faded leather armor. He stepped onto the roof, "Who are you?"

Beastboy stood, "Beastboy, Raven's boyfriend." he answered with a grin.

The man seemed to glare at him for a moment, "Boyfriend?"

"Yeah."

The man pushed past him and into the house. Beastboy stuck his head in and saw the man and Jasmine in a tight embrace, so he backed out quickly, "That must be dad then." He sat back down and pulled the book back into his lap, but didn't bother to open it as he stared out over the city.

Ten minutes later, Raven's mantra cut off and she lowered herself to the ground. Beastboy was slumped against the wall, snoring softly, and Raven couldn't help but smile at him. "Hey, Beastboy, wake up." Beastboy only snorted in his sleep. Raven shook her head as she knelt next to him. She leaned down and whispered in her ear, "Garfield, it's time to get up."

Garfield mumbled in his sleep, "Dun wanna g'school."

Raven almost let out a shriek when Beastboy's arms shot out and pulled her half into his lap. "Hey, beautiful."

"This isn't a good idea, Beastboy."

"Why not? We've already covered the fact that you're not going to blow hurt me."

"Maybe not, but he will."

It was then that Beastboy noticed Raven's father standing in the doorway. His hand was resting on the hilt of his sword, his fingers opening and closing around it.


	11. Chapter 11

Bloody Eyes

Chapter 11

Raven stood and straightened her cape, followed quickly by Beastboy, "Hi, dad." She stepped forward and gave him a quick hug.

"Hey, honey. You're mother said she needed some help in the kitchen. I was going to, but do you mind helping her?"

"Sure. Oh, dad this is Beastboy."

"We met."

"Yeah, briefly. But I uh, I never caught your name, sir."

"Micah."

"Micah, right. I uh, I think I'm going to go see if they need more help in the..." Beastboy had been edging toward the door into the house, but Micah's hand shot out and clamped around his arm, "Or not."

Raven shook her head, "I'm going to go help mom."

"Alright, dear."

"Don't leave me." Beastboy said in a voice barely above a whisper.

"Don't worry, he won't hurt you... much."

"That's not helping."

"Neither is this." Raven leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. Beastboy heard Micah's breath catch in his throat, "Good luck."

"Raven."

"Yeah?"

"Remember when I'm gone."

"I will, Beastboy." Raven answered with mock seriousness, before she walked into the house, closing the door behind her.

Beastboy turned to Micah, "Um, hi?"

Micah glared back at him, his hand loosening from his sword, "Hello, Beastboy. Why don't we have a little talk?"

"Yeah? How's the weather been?"

"So, you think you're good enough for my daughter?"

"For someone of such purity, grace and beauty? I don't think that anyone deserves such as her. But if she's willing to settle for me, then I will stay with her for as long as she will have me."

"Had a lot of time to think about this, haven't you?"

"I thought it would be best to have something prepared."

Micah nodded solemnly. "Tell me, what happened to the one who hurt my daughter?"

"Him?"

"Yes."

"Well right now he's on trial."

"Trial?"

"Yeah. A bunch of people look at the evidence and determine whether or not he's guilty, then they decide what to do with him. Actually, for this case it's more they're deciding what to do with him. It's obvious that he's guilty."

"And what shall be done with him?"

"He'll rot in a prison for a long long time."

"That's it? He'll be locked up, left to escape?"

"Yeah, I'm afraid so."

"I can see why such as yourself is necessary." Micah stared off over the city. "So that's it?"

"Well, I did beat him into a coma."

Micah raised an eyebrow, "You? His name is Mammoth, does he not fit his namesake?"

"Hey, just cause I'm small and stringy doesn't mean that I can't beat a guy three or four times my size into paste."

"Right."

"What you want some proof?"

"I just want to know that someone can protect her."

"She doesn't need to be protected, she can take care of herself."

"Can she? She wasn't able to this time. Where were you when they were hurting her, when they were raping her?"

"Excuse me?"

"You say you love her, yet you failed to protect her. You allowed her to be hurt, to be beaten, to be rap..."

Beastboy shifted form as he spun so that the fist that smashed Micah's face was the huge fist of a gorilla.

---------------------

Raven glared at Beastboy who was standing against the wall. His jaw was set and his arms were folded across his chest. He had made it clear that he stood by his actions. "Would you care to explain why you knocked my father unconscious?"

"He had it coming."

Jasmine removed the bag from Micah's still unconscious form, "You broke his nose."

"Beastboy, you're not usually short tempered." Raven glared at him, but he found himself unable to hold her gaze.

"I'm sorry, I..."

"No." Micah sat up, gently pushing Jasmine away. "Don't apologize." He stood a little unsteadily and gingerly felt his nose, "Broken." He closed his eyes tightly before he straightened his nose with a sickening crunch. "In all my years as a fighter and a warrior, I have never, never been knocked unconscious."

"Yeah?"

Micah broke into a sudden grin, "Good job, my boy." He slapped Beastboy on the back, almost sending him sprawling.

"What?"

Jasmine shook her head as she stood, "Lunch is going to be in a few minutes, you might want to go get yourself cleaned up, honey."

Micah threw her a mock salute, "Yes ma'am."

Jasmine and Raven both walked out, leaving Beastboy and Micah alone. "I'm sorry about what I said, lad."

"Wait, what just happened?"

"You never know how a person will do in a fight until they are well and truly enraged, and I couldn't have my daughter going around with a boy who couldn't protect is own honor, let alone my daughter."

"So it was a test."

"A bit of one, yes." He clapped Beastboy on the back again, "Welcome to the family, lad. Now," he said looking down at his blood stained shirt, "I do have to get changed.

----------------------

Beastboy reclined in the shadow of an old elm tree that grew in the park where Raven met with the healer. He dozed while Raven and the healer meditated thirty feet away. A foot in his side woke Beastboy. His eyes snapped open and he looked up into a familiar, and angry, face. "Hey, um, Devon, right?"

"Yeah."

"What's wrong?"

"I'd like to talk to you."

"Then talk, dude."

"What kind of a relationship do you have with Raven?"

"We're going out."

"Going out?"

"Oh yeah, Micah told me that you guys don't really have that kind of thing here. It's kind of like courting."

"Really."

"Yeah, why?"

"When she left she was strong and confident. Now she's... she's broken."

"I know."

"What did you do to her?"

Beastboy was on his feet in an instant and had pinned Devon to the tree. "Excuse me?"

"She backed off when you growled at her. That hardly seems normal."

"You've had a lot of time to work yourself up, haven't you?"

"I've had time to think it over."

"First off, I was growling at you. I can sense her emotions, and she didn't want you near her. Secondly, if you want to know what happened, ask her."

"I don't think I'd get a straight answer, not with you breathing down her neck."

"Me breathing... I don't control her, Devon. If she doesn't want to tell you what happened, then that's her choice."

Devon broke Beastboy's hold and spun them, quickly reversing their positions. "I don't think that you're being honest. What did you do to her?"

"I didn't do anything to her." Beastboy shoved Devon back with surprising strength, "I will never hurt her."

Devon shook his head, "If I ever find out that you've hurt her, I swear I will..."

"Raven's just about done, do you mind leaving?"

Devon glanced back over to Raven who was settling to the ground, "Why do I have to leave?"

"She's upset, and I don't think that you're what she wants to see right now."

Devon nodded, "I'll just talk to her later."

"Yeah, see ya later." Beastboy watched as he soared off, "Good riddance."

Raven walked over from the meditation area fighting tears. Beastboy walked out to meet her and wrapped his arms around her, holding her tightly. "Are you going to be okay?" She nodded silently against his chest as he rocked her slowly. They stood like that for several minutes until Raven straightened up, wiping an errant tear.

"I'm okay now." She studied Beastboy for a moment, "You're angry about something. I sense it earlier as well, while I was over there." She threw a thumb over her shoulder to the small hill.

"Devon showed up. He doesn't like me."

"Oh." Raven grabbed Beastboy's hand, lacing her fingers through his and they started walking down one of the many paths that crisscrossed the park. "He always had a crush on me when we were growing up. He's probably just jealous."

"Maybe, but it's annoying. He said he's going to talk to you later."

"I'll try to talk him down."

"Thank you." They walked in silence for a few minutes before Beastboy spoke again, "So, are there any good sate spots around here?"

"Date spots? Not really. It's been a while, things have changed since last time I was here."

"They've changed a lot?"

"Much of the city was still in ruins when I left."

"Oh, they built everything different."

"Yeah."

From around a corner, Micah appeared, "I thought I would find you two here."

"Hi, dad."

"Your mother sent me out to find you, lunch is almost ready."

"Okay, we'll be in soon."


	12. Chapter 12

Bloody Eyes

Chapter 12

Beastboy inhaled deeply, taking in Raven's scent, taking in the bitter tang of fear. He looked down at the girl resting in his arms, seemingly almost asleep. They were on the buildings sloped roof, watching the sun set together, Beastboy's arms around Raven's shoulders. "Are you okay?"

"What do you mean?" Raven looked up into his worried features.

"You've been quiet today, more so than usual anyway." He brushed an errant violet strand back from her eyes, hooking it behind her ear.

"I'm okay."

"Are you sure? You don't want to talk about it?"

"I... Just hold me, okay?"

Beastboy sighed as he tightened his grip on her, pulling her against his chest, "I won't let go. I'll hold on as long as you let me."

Beastboy stared out over the white towers of the city, "Devon's here."

"What?"

"Devon's in the house, I think."

"I should go talk to him." Despite her words, neither moved for several minutes. Finally she started to sit up, but fell back against Beastboy's chest. "What are you doing?"

"You told me not to let go." Beastboy answered her matter-of-factly.

Raven sighed as she shook her head, "You know what I meant."

"I know."

"So... are you going to let me up?"

Beastboy stared out over the city as flickering lights grew in the windows as he seemed to consider his answer, "Maybe." he finally answered. He ran a line of kisses down her jaw, "If you really want me to let you up."

Raven leaned back against him once again as the first of the stars came out, "Maybe he'll come back tomorrow."

Further conversation was cut off by a knocking on the trap door that they had come up through. An instant later it flipped open and Jasmine's head came up through, "So this is how it is. You two leave dinner early to come up here, huh."

"Hey, mom."

"Devon's here, he wants a word with you."

Raven sighed, "I guess I have to move then." She sat up as Beastboy's arms dropped away.

As soon as Beastboy had followed Raven through the trap door, Jasmine caught his arm, "He wanted to talk to her alone, dear. Why don't you come play a card game with me and Micah."

Beastboy turned to Raven who nodded, "I'll be fine, Beastboy. I want to talk to him, we were best friends once." Beastboy only replied with a low grumble. "Jealous much?" Raven asked with a smile.

"Do I have anything to be jealous of?"

Raven kissed him softly on the lips, "I'll be back in a little while."

----------------------

Beastboy cocked his head, trying to pick up on snippets of conversation from across the house. So far he'd been able to pick up on a few disjointed phrases, enough to keep him interested, but not enough to tell him anything. Neither could he sense Raven's emotions. The distance, the long hallways, and the closed doors blocked her scent from reaching him, and without that he couldn't tell what she was feeling.

"Beastboy, it's your turn."

Jasmines voice intruded on his thought. His head snapped back down to the table in front of him, the small stack of cards face down in the center and those in his hand. He pulled a card out of his hand and dropped it on the stack, face down. "One three."

"You have two's, dear."

Beastboy sighed as he picked up the card and dropped another one, "One two."

Jasmine nodded as she studied her own hand. Dropping a card, she identified it, "One three."

Micah grunted as he stared at his hand, "Don't worry about it, Beastboy." He dropped a card, "One four."

"What are you worrying about? You do trust her don't you?"

"Of course I trust her. It's just that Devon's come on pretty strong whenever I've seen him, and Raven never dealt well with touching. Since... since it happened, she's been worse."

"She can handle herself."

In concert, Beastboy and Jasmine both spoke, "Cheat."

Micah shook his head and scooped up the stack of cards, "Great, now I'm playing against two of you."

Beastboy listlessly dropped another card, "One four. I don't like this. She wasn't comfortable around him when we got here."

"I know, Beastboy, but she is better than when you arrived." She pulled two cards out and dropped them on the stack, "Two fives."

Micah dropped a car, "One six. Beastboy, why do you dislike Devon so much?"

"He doesn't like me. He thinks I had something to do with the way Raven is now." Beastboy dropped a card to the table, "One seven."

"I see." Jasmine dropped a card, "One eight. What gave him that idea?"

"I growled at him when he hugged Raven."

Jasmine and Micah both turned to stare at Beastboy, "You what?" Micah couldn't quite hide the smile, "You growled at Devon for hugging Raven? A little possessive?"

"I growled because she was scared, and he didn't realize it. He thought she shied away because I was there, thought I'm some psycho boyfriend or something."

Micah dropped a card, "One nine. He's trying to get her to tell him what happened, then?"

"Yeah."

Beastboy heard a door open somewhere else in the house. With it open, he could make out the conversation a little better, "What are you doing, Devon?"

"I wanted to make sur..." The door closed again.

"Beastboy, it's your turn, you have ten's."

Beastboy dropped one card on the stack, "One ten." The card was curved, causing it to lay at an odd angle. He looked down at the half crushed cards in his hand. He began to carefully bend them back into shape.

"Raven, don't go back to Earth." Devon's words were louder, Beastboy could here them without a problem, "Stay here, this is your home, where you belong."

Beastboy dropped his cards and started to stand. Micah grabbed his arm, "Sit, play the game."

"But..."

"If you walk in there, it will prove that you were listening in, and he won't believe anything that she said."

"Devon, please let go of me."

Beastboy heard the snarl that he knew was his before he turned and stalked out of the room. He walked down the hallway, heading for the sitting room that Raven took Devon to. At the door, he felt Jasmine's hand on his shoulder, holding him back. He turned to glare at her, but she shook her head and mouthed the word 'wait' to him. Beastboy stood by the door, using everything he had not to burst through the door.

Jasmine pulled Beastboy back from the door, "You don't have to worry about her, not with Devon. Just let her handle herself." Beastboy continued to glower at her, but she pulled him resolutely back into the room where they had been playing cards, "Sit, pick up your cards."

Beastboy dropped numbly into his chair and picked up his discarded hand, his head still cocked for snippets of conversation.

--------------------

Jasmine dropped her last card on the table, "I win." Beastboy barely grunted in acknowledgment, dropping his own cards on the table. Jasmine had done her best to keep them busy for the last thirty minutes, but Beastboy's patience was at an end.

"Can I go out front now?"

"No. Devon is almost done here, then you can go out. Alright?"

Beastboy stood, "I think I'll go see him out."

Jasmine laid a hand on his arm once again, "Wait just a moment, before you go out there..."

"What?" Beastboy growled.

"Alright, you can go."

Beastboy stared at her for a moment, head cocked, "What?"

"He's gone, so I know that no more fights are going to break out in my home."

Beastboy stalked into the hallway and almost bumped into Raven.

"Raven! Hi."

"Hey, Devon's gone."

"Yeah, your mom told me."

"And this old mom's going to bed. Goodnight, you two."

"Night mom, dad." Jasmine and Micah squeezed past them and walked down the hall and away.

Raven turned back to Beastboy and leaned on his chest, "I'm tired, I think I'm going to bed too."

Beastboy wrapped his arms around Raven, "Okay, I'll see you in the morning."

A/N: Sorry for the long wait. Mixture of homework and writer's block. You have no idea how hard it was just to get this chapter out. Next one shouldn't take so long.shouldn't be so long.


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